Canadian Railroads > Flood and railroads

I have seen a few pictures posted and only a brief news article about the floods and situation with the railroads. Can anyone elaborate further?

"A CP Rail spokesperson says there is also a track outage north of Hope because of the flooding. A CN train derailed on Sunday afternoon on CP's track system north of Yale, but no injuries have been reported." --cbc news

Railpax71 Wrote:
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> I have seen a few pictures posted and only a brief
> news article about the floods and situation with
> the railroads. Can anyone elaborate further?
>
> "A CP Rail spokesperson says there is also a track
> outage north of Hope because of the flooding. A CN
> train derailed on Sunday afternoon on CP's track
> system north of Yale, but no injuries have been
> reported." --cbc news

The bridge at Mile 87.0, CP Thompson Sub., that passes over the Trans-Canada Highway at that point has been undermined by a washout. The highway beneath the bridge has been completely washed away, leaving a substantial gorge.  Location is eight miles east of Lytton.

This is in the Directional Running Zone through which VIA No. 2  and all CP and CN eastbound freight would normally run. Today's VIA No. 2  was annulled.


 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/21 18:47 by railsmith.

If it's the Tank Hill overpass, this is what it looks like now...

https://i.redd.it/itnqd68gmuz71.png

Dwayne

Time to look at former BC Rail detours!

Regards, Jim Evans

Very widespread, here's a quick summary of road conditions indicating where the problems are:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-flood-watch-road-closures-1.6249154

As of Monday afternoon, there are numerous closures and delays on B.C. highways. They include:

• Highway 1 between Highway 11 and No. 3 Road.
• Highway 1 between Agassiz and Spences Bridge.
• Highway 1 east of Golden.
• Highway 1 from Finlayson Road to Wellswood Road on Vancouver Island.
• Highway 1A in Cowichan Bay.
• Highway 5 between Hope and Merritt.
• Highway 7 between Maple Ridge and Hope.
• Highway 11 between Mission and Abbotsford.
• Highway 3, which is closed in both directions due to a mudslide at Sunshine Valley, about 17 kilometres east of Hope.
• Highway 3 north of Fernie.
• Highway 99 south of Lillooet.

The Lower Mainland currently has no highway access to the rest of Canada after a mudslide approximately 42 km south of Lillooet closed Highway 99 just after 11 a.m. PT. There is no estimate yet for how long it will take to reopen the road.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/21 21:00 by TCnR.

My understanding is that both CN and CP trackage is severed at more than one location.... here is a photo of the lead locomotive of the (thankfully) empty eastbound coal train that derailed yesterday on the CP Cascade Sub.

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TCnR Wrote:
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• > The Lower Mainland currently has no highway access
  > to the rest of Canada after a mudslide
  > approximately 42 km south of Lillooet closed
  > Highway 99 just after 11 a.m. PT. There is no
  > estimate yet for how long it will take to reopen
  > the road.

Yeah, one of my daughters has been stuck in Hope since about 9:00 PM last night.  She was on
her way home from the Okanagan and planned to come down the Coquhilla but by the time she
made Kelowna it was closed so she had to detour to Hwy 3 and come through Keremeos and
Princeton.  By that time Hwy 1 (Trans Canada) was closed but she planned to hop across the
Fraser and come down Hwy 7 to Mission.  Unfortunately by the time she made Hope Hwy 7 had
been closed too.  They closed Hwy 3 behind her so she was stuck in Hope.

To top it all off the power was out as well so very few services were available.  She was smart
though because she had topped up with gas in Princeton and had winter clothing, a sleeping bag
and lots of snacks with her.  The power has since come on so she's been able to get hot coffee,
use a bathroom and wash with hot water but she's set to spend another night in her car.  She's not
alone, though, there are lots of other travelers stranded as well, and, apparently, a lot of them are
not as well prepared as her.  She's been a Girl Guide leader for years so she's used to roughing it...

Keith Robertson
Langley, BC

xcnsnake Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My understanding is that both CN and CP trackage
> is severed at more than one location.... here is a
> photo of the lead locomotive of the (thankfully)
> empty eastbound coal train that derailed yesterday
> on the CP Cascade Sub.

This is the train referred to in the Railpax 71's original post. CP power, but technically a CN train that would have been interchanged back to CP at Kamloops had it gotten there.

CP has bigger problems than this.  A huge washout opened up at North Bend, right across all four tracks, including the mainline. Looks to be about two car lengths deep and just as wide. At least one empty grain hopper hit bottom.

I have friends in Princeton and Merrit, both places flooded and evacuated. I have not had any contact with them. Other family member of our son-in-law are trapped on hiway 7 , barely missed being hit by a mudslide. To compound their troubles is the horse in the trailer they are towing.
Doug

Indeed. Here's a couple of screen grabs from a video of the scene (hence the poor quality) but it gives you a sense of the context.

railsmith Wrote:
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> CP has bigger problems than this.  A huge washout
> opened up at North Bend, right across all four
> tracks, including the mainline. Looks to be about
> two car lengths deep and just as wide. At least
> one empty grain hopper hit bottom.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/21 08:40 by xcnsnake.

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Yikes what a mess. VIA  Canadian can't seem to catch a break. First it was the protesters blocking the line i early 2020. Then Covid hit just after the train resumed running and it was canceled for over a year. . Now finally back to normal operation albeit it only once a week and this happens. Wonder how long it will take to clean up the mess so at least one side is open. Of course shipment of goods will be severely impacted as well. Sorry for all involved. Hope no serious injuries or worse. 

xcnsnake Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My understanding is that both CN and CP trackage
> is severed at more than one location.... here is a
> photo of the lead locomotive of the (thankfully)
> empty eastbound coal train that derailed yesterday
> on the CP Cascade Sub.

Some details on the train. CN coal empties C73051-14 running with CP locomotives derailed at Mile 13.5 of the Cascade Subdivision, west of North Bend, at about 15:40 on November 14.  Leading unit CP 8032 and 10 cars derailed out of 152. No injuries.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/21 10:04 by railsmith.

Train29 Wrote:
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> Yikes what a mess. VIA  Canadian can't seem to
> catch a break. First it was the protesters
> blocking the line i early 2020. Then Covid hit
> just after the train resumed running and it was
> canceled for over a year. .

Cancelled for nine months -- mid-March to mid-December 2020.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/21 10:42 by railsmith.

Not a news flash but, quite a mess.   https://gcaptain.com/flood-damage-cuts-all-rail-access-to-port-of-vancouver-canadas-largest-port/